Ice block upending machine



July 1,1947. P. H. MULLER ICE BLOCK UP-ENDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 21, 1944 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY July 1, 1947.

P. H. MULLER ICE BLOCK UP-ENDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 21, 1944 I VENTOR.

Patented July 1, 1947 V g a ED. STATES PATENT OFFICE;

ICE BLOCK. UPEN DING LMACHINE Peter H. Muller, Hillside Township, UnionCou-nty, N. J.

Application September 21, 1944, Serial No. 555,185

5-Claimsi 1 Ice. blocks are usually handled in ice manufacturing plants by. sliding or conveying the blocks on their narrow longitudinal edges or faces, but

ice blocks rapidly and'witha minimum of short.

by the attendant.

Another, object is, to provide a machine of this character which shall include a tiltable. or pivoted'tableorplatformto receive an ice block on edge]? i. e.. lying, on one narrow longitudinal edge, andnovel and improved mechanism for moving saidijtablefrom horizontal to vertical position to turn the ice block upon one end.,

Other objects are, to provide novel and improyedimeans, for controlling operation of said tablewhereby said tilting mechanism shall be.

automatically started. by movement of an ice. block ,onto the. table to swing the table upwardly. and up-endand discharge the iceblock, and the table shall automatically, return to,its,normal horizontal Position after the block has been dischargedfrom the. table; and to obtainother advantages and results that. will be brought. out by the. following. description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which.

Figure, l. is a side-nelevational view of anice block lip-ending machine embodying, my inventionshowing the table partially elevated and a block of ice thereon illustratedbydot-anddash lines.

Figu-re-;2 -is aafront elevational view of the machine.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the machine with portions broken away for clearness of illustration.

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view showing the table completely elevated.

Figure 521's .aafragmentarytop plan view showing thetable in its normal position and illustratinga cakeof ice thereon by dotea-nd-dash lines, and

Figu-reficis a wiring diagramoi, the motorwand switches forzcontrolling operation'of the tables Specifically describing theillustrated embodimerit oi-theqinvention, with the referenoe charaeter I; designates the floor or-runway ofuan-rice storage room in which my up-ending machine is installed. A table 2 to receive the ice blocks is the blocks with a.

' and so related to the bottom an arc of substantially 90,

pivotally mounted-adjacent one end as indicated at 3 on bearing brackets 4 which are fastened to an I beam '5 mounted in the top edge of one wall 6 of a pit or opening which is disposed below the runway or floor I. The table has a bottom wall I and is so mounted that when said wallis,

in horizontal position it is substantially flush with the upper surface of the floor I as shown by bro:- ken lines in Figure 4. The table also has side walls 3 and an end wall 9 which are of such size wall I and to each other as to receive a commercial ice cake or block Ill.

The table 2 is thus mounted to swing vertically about the horizontal axis of the pivot 3 through and a block of ice may be slid onto the table from th floor when the table is in its normal horizontal position. For tilting or elevating the table I have shown at mechanism including a crank shaft ll journalled. horizontally in bearings 12 and I 3 in the pit, upon,

one end of which is a crank arm l4 pivotally connected at E5 to one end of a link 16,. the other endcf which is pivotally connected at ll'to the under side of the bottom. wall 1 of the table, the

parts being dimensioned and related so that the table will be elevated from its normal horizontal position to its vertical position during about onehalf'or 180 the table will return to gravitational action.

its normal position by The crank arm M is preferably power-driven.

7 from an electric motor is whose shaft I9 is connectedwith, a speed-reducing mechanism 20 to a pinion 2| which in turn meshes with a gear 22 on the crank shaft ll.

It is desirable that the inotor it be automatically controlled, and for this purpose I' have shown a normally open electric. switch 23 for starting the motor, mountedon a stationary sup,- port, e. g., the top of the pit wall, to be actuated by a plungerv 24 mounted in the end wall 9 of the table and normally held by a, springld in spaced relation to the operating roddzfiofthe switch 23 when the table is in its horizontal position as shownby broken lines in Figure 4. Also I. have, provided a normally closed limitswitch: table is in. its elevated position, said switch being mounted;

2? for stopping the motor when the on astationary frame 28, atthe pivoted end; of thetable and having. an operating arm 29znormally influenced by a spring .36 to closeth'e switch and to'be engaged by a-lugwhen the table reaches its substantially vertical. position. at the end-ofthe elevatingoperation'as- 3| on the. table-'2 shown, in Figure 4.

In order-to permit: starting andstopping of; the; motor; under; manual controlt. especially in.

emergencies, I also provide a normally open manually operable starting switch 32 and a norof the revolution of said crank and.

3 mally closed manually operable stopping switch 33. These various switches are connected by a circuit with the motor and a known type of magnetic switch 34 so that when the switch 23 or the switch 32 is closed, the electric magnetic switch 34 will be operated to start the motor and to continue operation thereof until the lug 3| opens the switch 21 or the manually operated stop switch 33 is opened.

In operation of the machine, assuming that the table is in its normal horizontal position, an ice block i is slid from the floor l onto the table and into engagement with the plunger 24 so as to close the switch 23. Thereupon the motor [8 will be started and the crank arm 14 and link l will push the table upwardly as shown in Figure l. The outer end of the ice block will engage a shoulder or ledge 35 on the floor adjacent the pivoted end of the table so as to prevent the block from sliding oif the table until the latter has been fully elevated. Upward movement of the table will continue through an arc of approximately 90 until the table reaches its substantially verticalposition shown in Figure 4, whereupon the ice block will tilt by action of gravity off the table onto the floor I where it may be received by an attendant and pushed to its desired position in the storage room. When the table 2 reaches its uppermost position the switch arm 29 is actuated by the lug 35 to open the switch 2'! and stop the motor. At this time, the crank arm will be in approximately the position shown in Figure 4, and gravitational action on the table will cause the latter to swing downwardly and to rotate the crank arm hi until the table reaches its normal position. If desired, downward movement of the table may be limited by a projecting flange 35 on the top wall of the pit. The table is then in position to receive another ice block, whereupon the operation may be repeated.

It will be seen that m machine is simple and inexpensive in construction and operation and that ice blocks may be rapidly handled thereby. It has been found that the machine will up-end 8 blocks of ice per minute, allowing adequate time for the blocks to be slid onto the table and to be pulled away from it after they have been up-ended. There are no complicated parts to get out of order and the operatic-n of the machine is substantially automatic. Of course, if it is desired to stopthe elevation of the table at any point, the manually operated stop switch 33 may be actuated, and should it be desired to start the motor to either elevate or lower the table, the manually operated starting switch 32 may be actuated. In this connection we might emphasize that it is possible to utilize the motor for lowering the table if desired, by operating the switch 32 at the proper time.

If desired, the crank arm It could be mounted on the low speed or out-put shaft 31 of the speed reducing gear 20 so as to eliminate the gear 22 and shaft I l and this is preferable where an electric motor and speed-reducing gear combination is available which will give the required low speed for elevating the table.

While I have shown and described my invention as embodied in certain details of construction, it will be understood that this is primarily for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the invention and that many modifications and changes may be made in the construction of the machine within the spirit and scope of the in vention.

What I claim is:

1. In an ice up-ending machine, the combination with a horizontal runway for ice cakes having an opening therein, of a table to lie normally horizontally in said opening in approximately a common plane with said runway to receive ice cakes from the latter, said table being pivoted near one end thereof to swing in a vertical plane, a crank beneath said table to rotate in a plane parallel with the plane of movement of said table, a link pivotally connected at opposite ends to said crank and said table said crank, said link and said table being so related that the table is swung upwardly from its horizontal position through an I are of about degrees during degrees revolution of said crank, and driving means below said runway and said table for rotating said crank.

2. The ice up-ending machine as defined in claim 1 with the addition of a shoulder adjacent said pivoted end of said table to be abutted by an ice cake on said table as the table is raised and over which said ice cake is tilted from said table onto said supporting surface.

3. The ice up-ending machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said driving means includes an electric motor, a switch in the motor circuit and carried on a stationary support and so constructed and arranged that it is closed by an ice cake when said cake is located on said table for up-ending, and a limit switch in said motor circuit constructed and arranged to stop the motor after the ice cake has been up-ended.

4. The ic up-ending machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said driving means includes an electric motor, a switch in the motor circuit and carried on a stationary support and so constructed and arranged that it is closed by an ice cake when said cake is located on said table for up-ending,

and a limit switch in said motor circuit constructed and arranged to stop the motor after the ice cake has been up-ended, and wherein the relationship of said crank, said link and said table is such that the table will return to normal horizontal position by gravitational action after the motor is stopped.

5. The ice up-ending machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said driving means includes an electric motor, a limit switch in the motor circuit mounted on a stationary support, mean on said table to be actuated by an ice cake when the latter is located on said table for up-ending so as to close said switch, a second limit switch in said motor circuit mounted on a stationary support and constructed and arranged to stop the motor after the ice cake has been up-ended.

PE'I'ER H. MULLER.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS are of record in the Number Name Date 1,859,501 Durbin May 24, 1932 1,934,325 Peterson Nov. 7, 1933 1,987,042 Anderson Jan. 8, 1935 1,983,755 Heichert Dec. 11, 1934 2,010,820 Larson Aug. 13, 1935 2,197,581 Jones Apr, 16, 1940 2,238,764 Wolf Apr. 15, 1941 

